1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for scoring thin glass along intended score lines for the purpose of score and break separation, and also relates to scored thin glass prepared by such method. Here, thin glass substantially refers to flat glass having a wall thickness in a range between 1.2 mm and 3 μm, which can be produced as a glass ribbon or glass film and can be coiled up. However, the scored thin glass should as well be produced in wafer format as a prescored plate. After breaking along the score, small thin glass plates should be obtained, which are further processed as part of a component in electrical engineering, electronics, or electric batteries.
2. Description of Related Art
Thin glasses are used in many technological fields, for example in displays, in windows for optoelectronic components, in encapsulations of components, and in electrically insulating layers. For these applications, small thin glass plates are required. However, thin glass is mainly produced as a glass ribbon or glass film, and recently thicknesses of less than 350 μm are demanded. When such a thin glass ribbon or such a thin glass film is to be processed into smaller thin glass plates, handling problems are encountered.
A processor of thin glass usually does not want to get delivered small diced thin glass plates for further processing, but thin glass coiled into rolls which is prepared for being separated into small thin glass plates. However, in the case of prescored thin glass this implies a problem. Namely, when thin glass is bend when being coiled up there is a risk of premature breakage along the score. A single breakage may already disturb the further processing process which will have to be interrupted during the unwinding of the thin glass because of the breaking site.